Jiminy Cricket
by SnappleApple11
Summary: It was the one betrayal Tony Stark never saw coming. The double agent that never should have been. Speculation for the identity of the double agent in CA:Civil War.


**I've heard a ton of theories about who the double agent is for CA:Civil War, and most of them are essentially the same. The following is not in line with the vast majority of what I've read. This is pure cracky speculation and honestly I'll probably be wrong about it, but all the same I thought it'd be fun to write.**

 **Remember to drop a line and comment!**

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To say Tony Stark looked surprised by the turn of events would have been an understatement. It was the one betrayal he probably never saw coming. But sitting at his desk, slumped in his chair with the evidence laid in front of him plain as day, he didn't have much choice but to believe.

"I really thought… I mean… How? Why?" It was always fun to watch the verbose and wordy genius stumble over his mouth, but this wasn't the time to be amused, not when the exhaustion and shock was catching up with him. He didn't look angry, just emotionally drained and hurt at the revelation. Very, very hurt.

"You thought it was me instead of him. That I was the double agent," Natasha said simply, no trace of question in her voice. When she had come into his office only minutes before, the file of damning evidence thrown onto his desk, her voice clear and broking no question, she had been worried he wouldn't believe her. That he would think she was planting information to cover herself. Her claim would have sounded outlandish to any sane person, but the collected evidence and everything she had seen told a different story, one that she knew Tony needed to hear, for better or worse.

Tony had the decency to flinch and look guilty at her words, but the silent admission didn't honestly bother Natasha as much as it should have. She was used to people not quite trusting her, always questioning whether she was actually with them or just playing along with their beliefs and using them to survive another day.

"I've lived in the gray my entire life. If you never join a side you can never be on the losing team, but with everything that happened recently…" Natasha paused, putting her thoughts in order while she searched for the words. "Trying to stay neutral at all would have made things worse. And if I've learned anything from Rogers, it's that you should be willing to stand up for what you believe in, even if the consequences terrify you. I knew I had to make a choice and pick a side. Even if that side went against some of my closest friends."

Tony didn't look convinced, only more confused. "But even after everything Barton's done for you… And Steve too, I know you guys were good friends."

"Are good friends," She corrected him. "I still respect them. And I still care about them. I just don't agree with them about this. Friends are allowed to have different opinions."

"Our friends having different opinions is a matter of international security," Tony reminded her.

"True," Natasha admitted. "But they're our friends all the same."

Tony sighed. "I thought 'he' was my friend. He's the last person who could do something like this," He said under his breath, still in disbelief and unwilling to name the double agent, as if naming him aloud made everything real.

Natasha walked around the desk, moving to stand next to Tony. "It's the loyal ones that need watching. You expect attacks from outside but no one thinks to look in their own ranks. I know it's still a shock but we have to face facts. Jarvis, sorry, Vision, he's been giving information to Maximoff for weeks now and she's been funneling that intel to Rogers. What do you want to do about it?"

"He'll always be Jarvis to me," Tony replied, not actually answering her question. His hand reached onto the desk, grabbing one of the glossy photos Natasha had taken over the last weeks and staring at it blankly. The empty look only lasted a moment before his eyes turned back to her in challenge. "But why follow him in the first place? Something tipped you off. What was it?"

"I think the photo speaks for itself in this case."

Tony turned back to the photo, eyes still unwilling to believe what he was seeing. The photo showed a rooftop ledge in New York, and amid the sunset and a bottle of wine, sat Jarvis and Wanda Maximoff. The photo series could have easily been part of a professional art gallery about the joys of early dates, were it not for the lengthy and secretive conversations Natasha had recorded of the pair trading information.

Tony threw the photo back down on his desk as if it had burned him, and rubbed his hands over his face. "So what then, they're dating or something? Are they Romeo and Juliet in all of this?"

Natasha shrugged. "Looks like they are now. It's actually gotten pretty romantic over the last few weeks, but it didn't start out that way. Before any of this happened Maximoff was helping Jarvis come to terms with his new humanity. She's been in who knows how many people's heads and I guess he thought she was the logical choice to help him face things."

Really looking at the photos seemed to wake Tony up from his daze. Jarvis's two-sided nature was probably still a shock for him but Natasha knew that Tony Stark was never one to stay down for long. Natasha smoothly stepped aside as he burst out of his chair and started to pace, his hands flying around him energetically. "You know, I built Jarvis myself, from the ground up? I programmed him. I configured him into the house and the Stark Industries mainframe and- He's practically the kid I built! Oh God, he's my kid… That girl's gonna be my daughter-in-law."

Her eyes widened a fraction at his leap of logic. "Hey, hey, let's not jump the gun here. I don't think anyone's said anything about weddings. But look at it this way, you said yourself that you built Jarvis. You programmed him and every tendency he has."

"Yeah, I did. Every bit of code," He told her, turning to look out the window.

"When you designed Jarvis's programming you didn't make him 100% obedient to you. You gave him an ability to question things, an ability to look at the odds of a situation and to tell you no. You didn't have to do that, but you did."

Tony's eyes turned to Natasha, eyebrows creased in growing anger. "You're saying I built him to betray me?"

"No, you built him to question you and make you think. You built him as your conscience."

Silence stretched between them and Natasha watched a spectrum of emotions fly across his face in time with whatever thoughts were racing through his head. When he didn't say anything for several long moments, she picked up where she left off, hoping to make him understand. "I don't think Jarvis has betrayed you, and I don't think he's joining up with Roger's camp any time soon. I think he's trying to play peacekeeper and keep us from destroying ourselves. Remember when Ultron was about to unleash his final attack on Sokovia, and Jarvis brought us together again? What if he's trying to find a way to do that now?"

"Trying to bring us together by playing Romeo the spy? He's doing a bang up job then, with his secret romance," Tony said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Tony…"

"Fine, whatever. So you think he's trying to bring us together again. He's the middleman and go-between and the team conscience. He's our therapist, and we're all on the couch without even knowing it. That about right?"

"Just about…" Natasha pressed her lips flat briefly. "I told you before, friends are allowed to have different opinions, and you gave Jarvis an opinion the day you programmed him to be the Jiminy Cricket to your Pinocchio. So I'll ask again. What do you want to do about Jarvis?"

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 **Again, complete crack, but it could be a nifty twist for someone as loyal and close to Tony as Jarvis to be the double agent. Not to mention if he were to share that information with Wanda personally it could create an opportunity for some potential shipping and character growth. I know a lot of people are saying the double agent is Natasha, which makes sense given her cinematic history with Clint and Steve and everyone from that team, but it just seems like too obvious of a choice to have the spy be the double agent. Also, someone as morally gray as Natasha sticking to her guns on issues like the ones we're probably going to see in Civil War is something I would love to see.**

 **Just a thought. Let me know what you think.**


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